In the course of police investigations, it is common to come upon handguns at crime scenes. After the location and orientation of the handgun have been photographed, the gun must be moved to a laboratory for testing, such as fingerprinting and ballistic testing. Difficulties arise because there currently exists no convenient and safe way to pick up a handgun (which may or may not be loaded) without getting additional fingerprints on the gun. Further, even if the police officer wears gloves to avoid getting his own fingerprints on the gun, he may well smear any existing fingerprints such they cannot be read or "lifted" with accuracy.
It has become the habit of certain police officers, when faced with this situation, to use a pen or pencil to carry the handgun. In particular, the pen is inserted into the barrel of the gun. The gun is then tilted such that the barrel rests on the pen and/or the tip of the barrel rests on the officer's finger. While allowing the officer to lift the gun without destroying any fingerprint evidence, this practice can be particularly dangerous.
Due to the relatively short length of a pen and the high torque created by the weight of the gun, it can be difficult to support the weight of a handgun in this manner, particularly since pens and pencils typically have smooth sides, not well adapted for gripping under heavy loads. This difficulty is exacerbated if the gun is very heavy, as can be the case with certain high caliber or automatic weapons. Further, the pen may be substantially smaller than the barrel of the gun such that there is a very loose fit, which increases the chances that the gun will slip off the pen. As a result, officers may drop the pen (and thus the gun). Obviously, this can cause the weapon to fire or be damaged, thereby reducing its value as evidence. Further, as the gun starts to slip, an officer may reach down with his free hand, getting his own prints on the gun, the exact problem he was seeking to avoid. Even if the gun does not fall off the pen, pens, pencils and the like are writing instruments, typically maintained in the pockets of the officer. As such they may leave ink, cloth fibers or others residue in the gun barrel which can jeopardize the quality of the evidence. Even if no residue is left, the pen can scratch the barrel, potentially effecting any later ballistic tests.
Various devices have been developed over the years to hold guns. However, none of these prior art devices are intended to lift a gun without getting fingerprints or other contaminants on the gun.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,503,276 is directed to a handgun stand. A vertical panel is mounted on a base. Slots are disposed in the vertical panel. A stud is slidingly mounted in the slot and can be locked at a given position along the slot. The stud can be inserted into the barrel of the gun thereby maintaining the gun in a standing position. There is no teaching or suggestion to use this device to pick up guns safely while avoiding adding fingerprints to the gun.
U.S. Pat. No. 945,520 issued on Jan. 4, 1910 and is directed to a revolver display stand. Referring to the embodiment shown in FIG. 4, an arm 4' is mounted to a body portion 2'. The body portion acts as a base. A sleeve 5' is mounted at an angle on the arm 4'. The barrel of the handgun can be positioned over the sleeve and thus held in place. Again, there is no teaching or suggestion to use this device to pick up guns safely while avoiding adding fingerprints to the gun, let alone providing a means to lift guns of varying caliber with a single apparatus.
None of these patents disclose a device for safely picking up and carrying a handgun without smearing fingerprints or creating new fingerprints, let alone carrying handguns of various barrel sizes, as taught and claims by the instant invention. In fact, none of these references recognize the difficulty of picking up a gun at a crime scene without contaminating the potential evidence.